Neighbor gifts at holiday time are often a mixed bag. By the time Christmas has come to an end I usually find I’ve accumulated a countertop of cookies, candied nuts and hopefully a wine bottle or two from neighbors who’ve thoughtfully felt us worthy to share their neighborly wares.
One item that is pretty popular around our hood is Cinnamon Burst bread from Great Harvest Bakery. Naturally its tasty for breakfast—hot from the toaster and loaded with butter—or even for lunch as a sandwich with a slice of thick ham and some jammy preserves.
But after a few days of toast, I decided we needed a new treat for the sweeter side of breakfast. With sausage. And syrup. And make it easy on the cook, would you?
Nothing can really be easier than making breakfast the night before, creating a feast that’s ready to load into the oven once you’ve opened your baby blues and brewed your first cup of wake-up juice.
That’s why I love making stratas, like our traditonal, only-on-Christmas Ham and Cheese Soufflé. At least that’s what we’ve been calling it, or Ham and Cheese Casserole, which after looking through loads of cookbooks for the past few years I’ve come to the realization it’s actually a strata.
This recipe has quickly become Smudge-approved, and I’m betting it will be one I’ll be making for a while. Next to dipping her toast in orange juice—ew, gross—she loves mixing breakfast sausage with maple syrup and over easy eggs. The girl does not adhere to the church vs. state defined regions of food territories.
Stratas generally consist of chunks of bread, egg and milk to create a custardy, creamy concoction. Similar to bread pudding. Oh how I love bread pudding. I need to make that soon too.
A few notes about the recipe:
- One of the bonus points of this recipe is you can bake a batch on the weekend and then just heat up the little muffin cups for a quick way to sweeten the start of any weekday.
- For a little added vitamin power, think about adding chopped apples or dried raisins for even more sweetness to the mix.
- Are you a citrus fan? If so, a tablespoon or two of Grand Marnier or a few zests of orange will give the french toast cups an orange flavor boost.
- Go with what’s in the larder. If you have bacon or pancetta on hand—for those salty bits of yum—go ahead and give it a go. This recipe is all about the salty sweet combination.
Sausage and Egg French Toast Cups
PrintIngredients
- 6 cups cinnamon flavored bread cut into ½ inch squares
- 10 ounces country breakfast sausage
- 8 eggs
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 3 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons nutmeg
Instructions
- Crumble sausage into a skillet and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until sausage is cooked through. Drain and set aside.
- In a 4-cup measuring cup mix eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg together until well incorporated.
- Spray a 6 cup large muffin tin with baking spray or line with parchment liners. Add 1 cup of bread chunks and about ¼ cup of sausage to each muffin cup. Pour egg mixture evenly between each muffin tin, evenly distributing over the bread chunks. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden. Serve with maple syrup.
Related Recipes
Ham and Cheese Breakfast Souffle
Banana and Chocolate Chip French Toast
Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups
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These look amazing! How many does this recipe make?
I’m not sure what I love more, that you can make this the night before or that it’s baked in a muffin tin. Either way I can’t wait to try it out this weekend!
: )
Jen
Oh my god! And how perfect, I love anything in individual servings!! Lovin’ it with the raspberries too.
YUM! We’d go nuts for this at my house.
These look like a wonderful breakfast and my boys would love them!
Happy New Year!
This kind of reminds me of French toast sticks they used to serve in school, but infinitely times BETTER!
I love anything in mini/personal form. These little cups look delish!
Wow…what a stunning pic:). Beautiful ….am sure it wud have been delicious too.
OMG, I LOVE this!!! I’ll eat anything from a muffin tin! :)
Heidi, that is some delicious looking food. I need.
Love that you made these in muffin cups – such a great prepare-ahead breakfast!
These are adorable…and that bread is great.
Um, YUM! Love make-head breakfasts. We’re for sure trying this. What’s not to love?
Oh my laaaaaaaaaaaaawd this looks KILLER.
Killer. I’m not sure I can pull off that word.
I love these for so many reasons!
Heidi these look wonderful! Must try for sure!
love that this is sweet and savory!
As someone who is addicted to breakfast, I’m definitely putting this on my to make list!!
These are so gorgeous! Love this idea!
I totally agree with Smudge’s taste here! No need for food boundaries, mix it all together. This looks so so good! I only have a few more days of a break left and you better believe this is making an appearance for breakfast.
What a great idea – little individual French toast stratas! We have a traditional ham and cheese Christmas morning strata, too, and now I’m thinking that would be perfectly adaptable to muffin tins. Putting it on the idea list for next year.
Well these look absolutely fabulous! And I’m sure the sweet and salty combo from the bread and the sausage is to die for. Definitely giving these a whirl sometime soon :).
Yes, please. I’m all about the make ahead factor. I’ve never tried the cinnamon burst bread……but it sounds divine- especially toasted and slathered with butter. :)
I am all for breakfast like this: delicious, easy and kid-approved. Gorgeous pictures!
This is everything I want for breakfast in one little cup. Crispy toast, sweet syrup, eggs and sausage. Delicious!
great looking Heidi! Happy New year!!
Oh yes, I love that cinnamon burst bread. It really does make the best French toast. I love that you can store and reheat these cute little cups.
Looks amazing! Gorgeous photos, as always!
These are adorable and sooooo tasty-looking! I could eat the photos alone! :) (but seriously)
What stunning pictures, Heidi! One of my favorite food combos is sausage and maple syrup. I could eat these cups for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Happy New Year!
These are so cute Heidi! I never really enjoyed French toast as a kid (I was alll about the Eggos and Toaster Strudels) but I think this sounds delicious. Speaking of food territories and orange juice.. if you thought dipping toast in orange juice was bad, how about this one: My dad detests milk, so any time he has cereal (which 9 times out of 10 is granola or muesli) he drowns it in orange juice. Thankfully I didn’t inherit that habit!
I just posted muffin tin food that’s not muffins and I sure love the looks of your french toast. Great idea and great pour shot picture!